Last year I had the idea to expand the scope of our claves to the sunny archipelago of the Bahamian chain. We never did it but Eddie and I explored the possibilities by finding a place in Exuma he knew about and found the adventure quite interesting and rewarding. We found fish regularly, hooked up all but one time out, and I lost a bonefish that I would estimate at 11-12 pounds to a broken leader and loss of breath. This is the winter for the first annual "ridiculous clave".

Last year on the web I found properties that could accomodate 10 people for less than $300 each for the entire week; including a mini-van, 17ft whaler with 70hp motor, two sea kayaks. This property was on Deadman's Cay with 91 private acres.

Since then the search results have been clouded by new sites so I am re-starting the search and ask that anyone who can help me find the right accomodations please help out.

I am intrigued by Acklins as it is the most uninhabited of the chain, and is known to be a stumble from the front door and hook bonefish type of destination with over 1,000 square miles of bonefish flats. However it involves a lost day in one direction due to connections.

I would like to stay away from the popular islands as this is primarily a DIY trip, although a percentage of the time with a guide is recommended.

I am thinking once we find the den of bonefishing iniquity we will need a pre-payment to join, which should be around $250-300. This will secure the property and if you need to back out you will have to sell your share or lose it. This is the only way we can allow others to make flight reservations, plan vacation time off, etc. It will be a Sat-Sat rental in a particularly miserable time of year to emphasize the sense of escape.

Step #1 - please post the details of places you find on line. We will choose one from the resulting list.